Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

I am appalled that this sort of thing is happening in the United States: Gang Of Teens Playing Disturbing Game Of ‘Knock Out The Jew’ Activists, Victims’ Families Say 8 Incidents Not About Robbery, But About Hate […] released surveillance video that shows one group attacking a Jewish man. The video shows from a few different…

The operation described on the chalkboard (about 12 minutes in) where they “add” letters together is known these days as the XOR operation. Here is the mathematics of the XOR. The teleprinter code used in those days was the baudot code. Modern computers use the ASCII code. The good stuff (for me) starts at 43…

I’m fascinated by what the earth looked like at the time many of fossils found in this area were living creatures. Here’s a reconstructed view (showing Michigan and the nearest “field area” to Ann Arbor being underwater): If viewed from space, it would be completely unrecognizable as earth. Yet the way environmentalists who want to…

More at The Unstoppable Plastic Gun. The IRS also wants Wilson to explain in detail his issues and dealings with ITAR. Exactly as the post-Marxist philosophers taught him, he has willingly thrown himself into the maw of a totalizing system that wants to see, know, measure, shape, and protect every aspect of human existence. And…

One Party Ruins Detroit. Both narratives ignore the Chrysler in the room–how Detroit got to where it is today. If the “ruin porn” industry renders pity without judgement, the acts of Dan Gilbert and others, as well-intended as they obviously are, seek a future for Detroit without acknowledging its past or present. Not once in…

Green economics will lead to poverty. While the shale boom in the US has lowered electricity bills for consumers, Europeans are struggling to keep up with rising energy costs, in large part due to ambitious emissions targets set by the EU. In Germany, known for both its aggressive push towards renewables and the storied competitiveness…

A vicious attack in which a Berkeley teenager riding a public bus was set on fire is not — in my opinion — getting the sort of national attention it ought to be getting. Luke Fleischman, who also goes by the name Sasha, was asleep Monday on an AC Transit bus in Oakland when police…

Today is Veterans Day. For years it was a bit of a tradition for me to always call an old friend who was a WWII vet, but this is the first Veterans Day without him. Longtime co-blogger M. Simon is a veteran and he has an interesting war-related post up today. While I’m of course grateful…

More on the UnAffordable Care Act System. A clear illustration of the GIGO concept: It’s not a system that any engineer would recognize as being a system. The number of pages of regulations alone presently exceeds 20,000. There are way too many business rules to implement, test, and operate. With the business rules still being…

From Zero Hedge. Science is glorious. But government is not science, and society cannot be managed scientifically from the center. Ludwig von Mises had a phrase he used to describe every attempt: “planned chaos.” There is a plan, and the experts are in charge with all resources and conviction. But the results are crazy, random,…

A video explanation of some of the footage in the above video: 3rd Armored Division History. PDF Books: Last Push Last Request I have a copy of the Spearhead WW2 Division History. Bought it 25 years ago from a book seller who mispriced it (I paid $20). Below is a republication of the book I…

Earlier I read something that made me remember that 70s environmentalist slogan “SPLIT WOOD, NOT ATOMS!” Now that they have real power, the greenie weenies at the EPA have decided to ban most wood burning stoves. And the rules are the same no matter how cold the location: …the most dangerous aspect of the EPA proposed…

Where did all the jobs go? Computers killed them. The world is undergoing a mega shift and most of the governments have no idea how to handle the problem. Computer power has reached the point where almost any job can be automated, and computer pricing has reached the point where it is profitable to do…

Earlier I thought I recognized a very familiar character actor in the 1933 film, Goldiggers of 1933. Trouble is, he was so young I wasn’t 100% sure, but I had seen him in so many things that even though I didn’t know his name I knew I could find him by Googling. Sure enough, looking…

Anyone who trusts “science” should read “When Trans Fats Were Healthy.” …surprisingly, science has only been against trans fats for the past few decades. Through the late 1980s, animal fat substitutes like Crisco and margarine were all the rage, and for a brief moment were even considered a health product. Here’s the story of how…

Can an abortion ban work? At an open-air flea market outside McAllen, Texas, Mexican-sourced Cytotec, which is commonly used for treating stomach ulcers, is available for sale, according to a July report by Bloomberg. WebMD cautions that the drug, generically known as misoprostol, “may cause abortion, premature birth, or birth defects.” That “side effect” is…

The United States Has More People In Jail Than High School Teachers And Engineers America has become a gigantic gulag over the past few decades and most of its citizens don’t know, or just don’t care. One of the primary causes of the over incarceration in the U.S. is the absurd, tragic failure that is…

Article with this headline: Is America Being Deliberately Pushed Towards Civil War? Well worth reading, if scary. Excerpt: History teaches us that most economic crisis events are followed or preceded immediately by international or domestic conflict. War is the looming shadow behind nearly all fiscal disasters. And: What’s the greatest weakness of conservatives? It’s their…

Marriage penalty in Obamacare? Yes, and it appears to be substantial. Any married couple that earns more than 400 percent of the federal poverty level—that is $62,040—for a family of two earns too much for subsidies under Obamacare. “If you’re over 400 percent of poverty, you’re never eligible for premium” support, explains Gary Claxton, director…